Best Valour Bard Build - Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3)

In this post, I will go through the Valour Bard Build - Bearer of Ballads for Baldur's Gate 3. The support-oriented subclass aims to inspire allies with special Combat Inspiration​ to improve combat prowess. The additional proficiencies help equip some good gear to overcome some downsides of the Bard.

Valour Bard Build - Bearer of Ballads

The College of Valour is considered the weakest subclass for Bard that Baldur's Gate 3 has to offer. Unfortunately, it falls flat compared with the other two and leaves itself stranded, neither good at spellcasting nor martial combat.

I do try to create a "role" that would utilize the Valour Bard's Combat Inspiration, enabling it to help allies improve their combat potential. Another part is its ability to wear Medium Armor and shields, this is where armor options like Luminous Armour play an important role.

The last part is the core of Bard, which enables you to be a solid spellcaster. With these things in mind, Valour Bard will play the role of "minor" or "junior" cleric, albeit coming online much later. However, if you can spin this in some kind of role play, like the one that is recording your companion's stories and sharing them with the world - this becomes a good setup and works in almost any kind of party.

So let's go into the build!

Class Contribution

The core of the build consists of Bard. For the second class, there are various options, that you can check in the build variation section. I decided to go with Cleric for this.

10 College of Valour Bard

• Combat Inspiration​ allows you to improve allies' combat performance via attack rolls, armor class, and damage.
• Full spellcaster progression, giving access to plenty of spell slots.
• Song of Rest​ for additional short rest, helping to manage resources.
• Magical Secrets - allows you to learn 2 spells from other classes, giving some unique combos like Spirit Guardians​ or Counterspell.
• Extra Attack​ is one of those powerful passive features that greatly improves the damage of martial classes.
• Access to multiple skills Expertise​ helping with world exploration and dialogue checks. Bonus proficiency bonuses thanks to Jack of All Trades.
• Additional armor and weapon proficiencies for wider gear access.

2 Light Cleric

To be fair, you can play around with subclass picks, based on roleplay - Knowledge Domain, if you want to represent "a knowledgeable Bard", war domain - for some heavy hitting, etc.

• Light cleric features - Radiance of the Dawn​ and Warding Flare, to inflict radiant damage and increase the likelihood of enemies missing.

Leveling Overview

Here is a concise table with all the main picks during your leveling progression. For more detailed reasoning, I go further in the article. Also, do not forget to check the recommended gear as it is crucial.

Level	Class	Selection
1	Bard 1	Cantrips: Vicious Mockery​, Friends​
		Spells: Dissonant Whispers​, Longstrider, Faerie Fire​, Healing Word.
		Abilities: STR - 8, DEX - 16, CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 10, CHA - 17
		Skills: any Charisma related
2	Bard 2	Spells: Feather Fall​, Thunderwave​
3	Bard 3	Spells: Cloud of Daggers​
4	Bard 4	Cantrips: Minor Illusion​
		Spells: Enhance Ability​
		Feat: Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma
5	Bard 5	Spells: Glyph of Warding​
6	Bard 6	Cantrips: Friends, Minor Illusion, Blade Ward, Mage Hand.
		Spells: Plant Growth​
		Replace Spell: Faerie Fire​ -> Hold Person​
7	Bard 7	Spells: Confusion​
		Replace Spell: Cloud of Daggers​ -> Fear​​
8	Bard 8	Spells: Dimension Door​
		Feat: Sharpshooter: All In​
9	Bard 9	Spells: Hold Monster​
10	Bard 10	Cantrips: Mage Hand​
		Spells: Greater Restoration​
		Magical Secrets: Counterspell, Spirit Guardians,​ or Hunger of Hadar​
11	Respec Character: Level 1 - Cleric 1 Level 2-11 - Bard 10	Abilities: STR - 8, DEX - 16, CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 10, CHA - 17
		Cantrips: Guidance, Light​, Thaumaturgy​
		Subclass: Light Domain
12	Cleric 2	-

Starting the Game - Level 1

This section covers the creation screen and what would go into the best Races, Abilities, and Skills for the Valour Bard build. If you have already started playing feel free to do a respec at Withers and follow along. This will make it easy to follow the build step by step.

Races

Picking a race provides various benefits - abilities, dialogue options, looks, etc.

Race	Features	Description
Wood Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.	The race picks are very similar, the main difference is weapon proficiencies, which the build does not care much about. So I would prioritize role play and looks, as the main goal is to get improved movement speed.
Wood Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry Fleet of Foot - your movement speed is increased by 1.5m.
Githyanki	Martial Prodigy​	They have various actions like Astral Knowledge​ and Enhance Leap​ to help with exploration. Moreover, they have some combat abilities - Misty Step​ in case you need to cover a lot of ground.
High Half-Elf	Civil Militia Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry	The High subraces of elves can be useful as they give access to cantrips like Friends, which are especially good for the main character.
High Elf	Elven Weapon Training​ Darkvision​ Fey Ancestry

Class

Overview
Bard
Features
Bardic Inspiration​	Iconic bard feature, that can improve damage, dialogue dice rolls, and saving throws.
Spell Slots	These can be used to cast spells and are restored each long rest.

Cantrips

Cantrip	Description
Vicious Mockery​	Although the damage is low, it has its purpose. The cantrip can be used to impose a disadvantage on enemy attacks, in case you see that your normal attack would not kill it. However, the cantrip loses purpose in later levels.
Friends​	If you are the main character and do most of the dialogues, this is also a good choice as it gives an advantage during rolls.

Spells

Spell	Description
Dissonant Whispers​	The only truly offensive level-1 spell. It can also frighten enemies making them unable to move. Later on, it loses its purpose, once ranged attacks become stronger.
Longstrider​	It will boost the movement speed by 3m. This is a huge bonus and will allow you to get better positions when in combat. You can also activate it on all party members when not in combat, after a long rest!
Faerie Fire​	In the early game, this spell is wondrous as it makes it easy to get an Advantage on attack rolls. Once the spell is cast you can exploit it next turn or by your group members.
Healing Word​	Although this is not a healer build, having a way to instantly make an ally stand up is great way of action point use.

Starting Instrument

As this is a fun feature, pick the one that you like the best! There are no combat advantages to picking a different one.

Background

Backgrounds are mostly for role-playing and you can pick whatever you prefer. If you want to optimize, then it would be good to pick backgrounds that are based on your ability points. However, this build can become the main pickpocket or lockpicker with a few optimizations.

Abilities

Now let's take a look at the abilities of the Valor Bard build. Correct allocation will allow you to maximize the early gameplay and get good modifier bonuses.

The core mechanic to understand for ability points is that they give "ability modifiers" that apply to various skill checks. For example, Charisma works on Intimidation and persuasion checks. Wisdom on Survival or Animal Handling and so on.

You get a higher ability modifier on even values - 10, 12, 14, etc. So keeping it on odd may be useless. However, there are various +1/2 modifiers in the game, specifically Auntie Ethel Hair or Feats that help round this up.

Ability	Value	Description
Strength	8	It's not a mandatory ability. You can improve it with Elixir of Hill Giant Strength, at least for the early game, if you will use melee attacks.
Dexterity	16 (15+1)	Useful for improved initiative, but will also work to help with landing melee attacks using Phalar Aluve.
Constitution	14	Consitution will help with maintaining spell concentration and improving HP pool.
Intelligence	8	Not relevant ability
Wisdom	10	Just enough to remove the negative modifier for Wisdom.
Charisma	17 (15+2)	Charisma is the main spellcasting modifier for bard. It improves Spell Save DC and dialgoue check success.

Skills and Expertise

Overall, the skills should be impacted by your roleplaying and background decisions. However, you would still want those that will give you the best benefits. My recommendations are to pick those at which you have a high ability modifier and these are Charisma-related.

• Deception
• Persuasion
• Intimidation
• Performance

Leveling Progression - Levels 2-12

Here is the detailed progression for the Valour Bard build to get you started. You can use it as a guideline because early games can be daunting and overwhelming. Later on, once you get a feel for the class you can start picking your options.

Level 2

By this time you should have landed in the first area already. The level-up gives some welcome improvements for your Bard.

Feature	Description
Jack of All Trades​	This will improve your chances of success when doing various dice rolls that you are not proficient in. It's not huge, but will help out during the game.

We gain a very good utility action to gain additional HP restoration and action reset:

Action	Description
Song of Rest​	Unique action to Bards. It acts as a third short rest. This is especially useful for Warlocks, as they will gain even more spell slots during the day.

Spells

Pick one of the spells below:

Spells	Description
Feather Fall​	A useful ritual spell that will help with world exploration and is especially good in some parts of Act 1.
Thunderwave​	A decent spell that can push enemies off the ledges and instantly kill them.

Replace Spell

Nothing to replace this early in the game.

Level 3

This level unlocks Bard's subclass picks and some higher tier spells.

Spells

Spell	Description
Cloud of Daggers​	A solid offensive spell, that works well for the early game. Use it on enemies that are close together. Be sure to cast it on a target. This way they will get damage two times - on initial cast and on their turn.

Subclass

Overview
College of Lore
Features
Combat Inspiration​	Unique valour bard action that allows improving combat stats of allies.

Replace Spell

Nothing to change yet

Level 4

The 4th level unlocks the first feat for the build. This is generally a big improvement as it helps by providing stat improvement or unique effects.

Cantrips

Cantrip	Description
Minor Illusion​	A pretty good cantrip that you can use to lure enemies on NPCs. Even before combat you can perfectly align foes into one spot.

Spells

Spell	Description
Enhance Ability​	It's almost a mandatory spell to have by someone in the group. This can help with various ability checks - dialogues, exploration, etc. and turn the tables to your side.

Feat

Here you can select from a few choices, based on your playstyle and what kind of playthrough you are doing.

Level 5

Level 5 plays a pivotal role for most of the builds. You will get access to level 3 spells, which are very powerful and start unlocking the class potential.

Feature	Description
Font of Inspiration​	Greatly improves your damage output throughout the day as you can use flourishes more often.
Improved Bardic Inspiration​	The bonus gained from Bardic Inspiration increases to +1d8, this will give a higher damage bonus for Flourishes.

Spells

Spell	Description
Glyph of Warding​	A well-rounded spell that can be used in various ways. You can change it to different elements, or use it as a control option to cast Glyph of Warding: Sleep​ to disable foes without Concentration.

Level 6

The level unlocks some nice Bard features:

Feature	Description
Extra Attack​	You can now attack two times and this can be done together with Flourishes. So you can easily hit 4 enemies in one turn, without Haste or Elixir of Bloodlust.

We also get additional action, that can freely be used before combat:

Action	Description
Countercharm​	Although this spell might have it's uses, it is quite limited especially compared to alternative options you have with other spells.

Spells

Spells	Description
Plant Growth​	A decent area of control spell that does not use a Concentration slot.

Replace Spell

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Faerie Fire​	Hold Person​	A solid spellcasting option allowing to hold humanoid enemies.

Level 7

The level unlocks a new spell level with some decent options

Spells

Spells	Description
Confusion​	One of my favorite control spells. Can disable multiple enemies and initiate fighting between them.

Replace Spell

Remove Spell	Add Spell	Description
Cloud of Daggers​	Fear​	This is a powerful spell, especially for characters who can easily enter melee range. Enemies might drop weapons leaving them helpless.

Level 8

The main highlight of this level is the additional feat.

Spells

Pick one of two spells:

Spells	Description
Greater Invisibility​	It's especially useful if you have a character with high stealth like Gloomstalker Assassin, Archer Swords Bard, etc.
Freedom of Movement​	It can be useful in certain situations to remove various restraints on ally characters.
Dimension Door​	A situationally useful spell, that enables teleportation between specific targeted areas.

Replace Spell

Feel free to replace any spell that you do not use for something more useful.

Feat

There are a few relevant picks here:

Feat	Description
Resilient: Constitution​	Good pick to help maintain spell concentration
Sharpshooter: All In​	This is an interesting option and allows you to be a decent archer, especially as Valour Bard has access to Extra Attack.
Alert​	Very popular feat pick that almost guarantees that you go first. This can enable you to apply control spells, debuff enemies or help allies as needed.
War Caster: Concentration​	This can be useful only temporarily. There are various items like Amulet of Greater Health that give the same effect, allowing to pick another feat option.

Level 9

New level 5 spells are unlocked.

Spells

Spells	Description
Hold Monster​	This can be an extremely powerful spell, especially if you have a high chance to land it. This will enable you and your allies to deal with guaranteed critical hits from the melee range.

Level 10

This is an important level as Bard gets additional features and access to a wide array of spell picks.

Skills

Take any skills that do not have expertise yet, most likely Charisma related like Persuasion, Intimidation, etc.

Cantrips

Feat	Description
Mage Hand​	A solid cantrip that can help with world exploration.

Spells

To be fair, you can pick any spell, other level 5 spells are somewhat disappointing.

Spells	Description
Greater Restoration​	Can be useful in some situations when you need to remove afflications or diseases. Otherwise has limited uses.
Seeming​	Has some situation role play uses, but otherwise not that important.

Magical Secrets

This is a huge upgrade for Bard as a spellcaster. You pick 2 spells. Let me suggest some options:

Spells	Description
Spirit Guardians​	One of the pillar spells if you have access to Luminous Armour. This will enable you to debuff enemies while standing close to them and weakening their hit chance.
Counterspell​	I would recommend that at least one party member would have this spell. It can save you from powerful enemy spells.
Hunger of Hadar​	One of the strongest control spells in the game. I would suggest this pick if you did not take Spirit Guardians.
Command​	Excellent control spell that can target multiple targets if cast at a higher spell level. It also does not consume concentration slots.

Replace Spell

Nothing to replace for now

Level 11 - respec as Level 1 Cleric

So from now onward, the build has some variations on how to take it forward. You can take various classes to get different effects:

• Light Cleric - improve the radiant side of the build and get some additional support spells.
• Sorcerer - access to Shield​ and Tempestuous Magic​ for improved movement speed. It is especially good if you are using Spirit Guardians.
• Wizard - scribe various spells, to access more utility options or some level 6 spells like Globe of Invulnerability.
• Paladin - gives some utility spell options, but most important is Divine Smite​ that enables heavy damage with your melee weapon.

With this build I will continue as Light Cleric as it will further improve the support side and give a really powerful radiant spell. Its goal will be to debuff enemies rather than deal a lot of damage. This will also require a respec, why?

• Casting spells with items and scrolls will use the spellcasting modifier of the last level 1 multiclass. The build uses Charisma, so Bard needs to be the last level 1 multiclass.

With this point addressed pick the first level as Cleric.

Class

Overview
Cleric
Clerics are representatives of the gods they worship, wielding potent divine magic for good or ill.
Features
Spell Slots	These can be used to cast spells and are restored each long rest.
Domain Spells​	Unique spell list accessible based on your cleric subclass.

Cantrips

Cantrip	Description
Guidance​	The spell can be used to improve the ability check rolls
Light​	A decent spell that will be useful in Act 2, to avoid heavily obscured areas.
Thaumaturgy​	Advantage source when doing Intimidation dialogue checks.

Subclass

Overview
Light Domain
Features
Warding Flare​	Allows you to impose a disadvantage on enemy attack, this is an easy way to have a chance of avoiding enemy attacks.
Light​	Excellent cantrip that will be useful in dark areas, especially Act 2.
Burning Hands​	A situationally useful spell, however, it's nothing fancy.
Faerie Fire​	Excellent spell that you can use to enable attack roll advantage for your allies, useful in the early game.

Deity

Pick your preferred one in terms of roleplay.

Abilities

Reuse the same ones from the 1st level - STR - 8, DEX - 16, CON - 14, INT - 8, WIS - 10, CHA - 17.

Prepare Spells

Clerics get plenty of good level-1 spells. You might not have enough slots to equip them all but don't worry, more will be available as you level up. Choose your preferred ones.

Spells	Description
Guiding Bolt​	The main, long-range damage spell for the cleric in the early game.
Inflict Wounds​	If enemies are close to you, this is the go-to spell, which a strong damage rolls. It can also crit, inflicting even more damage.
Create or Destroy Water​	Mandatory spell if you have any kind of lightning or cold based caster to double their damage.
Command​	One of the best control spells in the game, if you have a high chance of landing it. What makes it special is that it does not use a concentration slot.
Sanctuary​	Use this spell to make the ally untouchable, for example, if they have low HP, or you want to divert the enemy's attention.
Healing Word​	The best healing spell, due to its cheap cost and ability to revive downed targets without wasting action points. Moreover, later with The Whispering Promise ring you can buff specific allies.
Bless​	This is an excellent spell, however, I would only use it before combat and in the early game. It loses value later on, especially with some excellent items you can get in Act 1 like The Whispering Promise.
Shield of Faith​	Excellent early game spell, that can be used to improve defensive capabilities. I would not use it too much at higher levels as you get better use for concentration slots.

For the rest of the levels, use multiclass functionality via the level up screen and ensure to go through Bard levels 1-10:

Level 12 - Cleric Lv 2

This is the last level of the build. It will unlock an additional feature of cleric to slightly improve the combat capabilities with multiple enemies

Action	Description
Turn Undead​	Excellent against undead enemies, making them run away.
Radiance of the Dawn​	One of the better cleric actions, it can deal a decent amount of radiant damage in a large area. Also removes any Darkness.

That's it the build is done!

Maximizing Ability Scores

Now, as the build progression is covered there are a few aspects and important decisions you will have to make throughout the game. These will decide your final score for abilities.

Charisma

1. 17 Charisma - the base from character creation.
2. Act 1 - Auntie Ethel Hair - you will want to get +1 Charisma if you pick this choice.
3. Feat- Ability Improvement - +2 Charisma.
4. Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - pick +2 Charisma.
5. Act 3 - Mirror of Loss - Patriar's Memory additional +1 Charisma, to counteract Auntie Ethel Hair if it was skipped in Act 1.

These will allow you to reach 22 natural Charisma, which results in a +6 spellcasting modifier and improved Spell Save DC.

Potions, Elixirs and Consumables

Let's take a look at what consumables you can use to further empower the build.

Potions

These are general consumables, and most of them are activated for a few turns. Potions are separate from Elixirs and can be active together.

Consumable	Description
Potion of Speed	In case you or your other casters have a Concentration spell slot taken and cannot cast Haste, use this potion. It acts similarly, but the effect is just for 3 turns.
Potion of Animal Speaking	Although not powerful, it is worth stocking up and saving a spell slot.
Potion of Invisibility	It can be used to get into a perfect position before the encounter starts or to leave the encounter if the worst happens.
Potion of Angelic Reprieve	It gives a short rest effect and restores level 1 and 2 spell slots. Excellent for restoring some spellslots to use Shield.
Potion of Angelic Slumber	A few can be obtained throughout the game, but most of them are found in Act 3. Gives the effects of long rest, perfect for restoring spell slots.

Elixirs

Unfortunately, only one Elixir can be active at a time. However, the good thing is that they last until a long rest, making them very useful and economical.

Be sure to activate them before combat as otherwise, you will need to use Bonus Action.

Consumable	Description
Elixir of Hill Giant Strength	Sets strength value to 21 until the Long Rest. This will enable the Cleric to easily land melee hits with various weapons and compensate for low strength ability scores. Here is a farming guide for Elixir of Hill Giant Strength
Elixir of Bloodlust	Very effective elixir that gives another action point if you kill an enemy. I would say this is the best one to use to maximize your output through the turn.
Elixir of Battlemage's Power	Gain 3 stacks of Arcane Acuity. I would say this should be the most used elixir for higher spell success.
Elixir of Peerless Focus	Another good choice that allows to better maintain spell Concentration.
Superior Elixir of Arcane Cultivation	Grant's a single level 3 spell slot. Could be useful in case you are preparing for a longer encounter.
Supreme Elixir of Arcane Cultivation	Grant's a single level 4 spell slot. Could be useful in case you are preparing for a longer encounter.
Elixir of Vigilance	For some encounters, you will want to go first. This elixir will ensure that it overcomes even surprise mechanics. However, if you have Alert​ this becomes redundant.

Arrows

As the build can easily use ranged attacks, these are my arrow recommendations:

Consumable	Description
Arrow of Many Targets	One of the most overpowered arrows in the game. What makes it powerful is that it can hit up to 4 targets. This can debuff multiple enemies with Luminous Armour + Callous Glow Ring or weapons like Gontr Mael.
Arrow of Humanoid Slaying	These arrows are very powerful when used against the correct target as they double the damage.
Arrow of Aberration Slaying
Arrow of Dragon Slaying
Other same-name arrows...

Illithid Powers

This special mechanic in Baldur's Gate 3 allows you to consume tadpoles and unlock special Illithid Powers.

At first, you can only use the base powers. As you move to Act 3, you will be able to unlock the outer ring powers also called Elite.

Illithid Power	Type	Description
Favourable Beginnings	Base	Beneficial power to take as it does not have any costs, and provides only benefits on the first hits with attack rolls.
Luck of the Far Realms​	Base	It's an easy way to ensure you land critical hits.
Cull the Weak​	Base	Can help to kill an enemy faster if it is left with a few HP.
Psionic Backlash​	Base	A great way to weaponize your reaction before obtaining Counterspell.
Illithid Expertise​	Elite	Can be used to maximize the effectiveness of charisma-based skills, especially relevant to the main character.
Black Hole​	Elite	Very powerful spell that can be used to pull enemies together. You can then follow up with area-of-effect spells or attacks. In general, it is a very effective action in the hands of any character.
Psionic Dominance​	Elite	Can be used to save yourself from a deadly spell. This is especially relevant as you will have a disadvantage on mental saving throws.
Freecast​	Elite	Remove the cost of spell slots or charges.
Mind Sanctuary​	Elite	You can now use action and bonus action interchangeably, giving two full spell casts each turn. It's not as important for you, but it will help other casters in the group.

Equipment Recommendations

Now I would like to go through some gear recommendations to maximize the Valor Bard Build. Items are especially important as they take the build to the next level thanks to their unique effects.

Act 1

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	Phalar Aluve	I would say this is the best weapon pick until late into the game when you obtain Spirit Guardians. Before that, Phalar Aluve's special actions will provide powerful buffs for the whole party.
	Blood of Lathander	I recommend getting this item. Although it may not be as useful now, it will become powerful later on, when you unlock Spirit Guardians​ and help activate Radiant Orb effects.
Ranged	Bow of Awareness	Gives bonus initiative, allowing one to go earlier in combat.
	Hand Crossbow +1	Equip 2 of these to have the option to attack with bonus action using an offhand attack.
Shield	Adamantine Shield	It provides a substantial defensive boost by reducing critical hit damage.
	Safeguard Shield	Gives a bonus to saving throws, easily accessible early in the game.
Head	Holy Lance Helm	A solid helmet that will deal 1d4 radiant damage if the enemy misses you. Moreover, it will also activate any reverbation effects from Gloves of Belligerent Skies.
	Cap of Curing	Sadly this does not work with The Whispering Promise, but still, the health restoration during combat and Combat Inspiration​ buff is great.
	The Shadespell Circlet	Opens up opportunities for easy ways to improve Spell Save DC.
	Haste Helm	Improves movement speed, allowing one to reach important targets easily, early in the game.
Cloak	-	Nothing relevant for the build.
Armor	Adamantine Scale Mail	The best medium armor for Act 1, will give good protection.
	Luminous Armour	The armor will be very good later on, once you obtain radiant damage sources with Callous Glow Ring and Spirit Guardians. Be sure to get it.
	Blazer of Benevolence	A decent intermediary armor, that will grant additional hit points.
Gloves	Gloves of Power	These gloves are pretty good if you use melee weapon attacks. This allows you to land additional debuff for attack rolls and saving throws.
	Hellrider's Pride	Defensive gloves that give damage resistance to those that the Cleric heals. The perfect combo to be used with Healing Word​ + The Whispering Promise.
Boots	Boots of Stormy Clamour	The best boots in terms of offensive damage. They will give Reverbation stacks when you apply status effects, for example, Spirit Guardians. You will not use them much for now, but they will be useful later on.
	Disintegrating Night Walkers	It is one of the best boots, giving a total advantage for movement on difficult surfaces. It also gives Misty Step​ to increase that mobility.
	Boots of Speed	These boots are a good option, as they make it easier to avoid opportunity attacks.
Amulet	Amulet of Restoration	The best cleric amulet early in the game. Use the spells together with The Whispering Promise to apply buffs on your allies.
Rings	The Whispering Promise	The best ring for a cleric early in the game. This will apply Bless​ to allies when you use a healing spell like the Mass Healing Word.
	Caustic Band	Adds additional damage to weapon attacks.
	Ring of Protection	The bonus Armour Class is a great boost for survivability.

Act 2 - mid-game

You might opt out of using a ranged weapon which becomes a viable option once you get Extra Attack.

Another important item is Callous Glow Ring. If you will use it on another character, I would then disregard items like Luminous Armour, Gloves of Belligerent Skies, and Luminous Gloves until you unlock Spirit Guardians​ at level 10. So use the alternative gear until then.

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	-	Use weapons from previous acts.
Ranged	Titanstring Bow	Bow becomes a good option, especially once you get Extra Attack. I would also take Sharpshooter: All In​ feat and drink Elixir of Hill Giant Strength. With all of these, the Valour Bard becomes a good ranged character if the weapon is freely available.
	Bow of Awareness	The bow gives initiative.
	Darkfire Shortbow	Allows casting Haste.
Shield	Ketheric's Shield	The best shield for casters as it gives +1 Spell Save DC, increasing spell success.
	Sentinel Shield	What makes this shield amazing is that by wearing it you will be going first most of the time during encounters. This is a great way to apply some control spells or weaken enemies.
Head	Fistbreaker Helm	Improves Spell Save DC which results in higher spell success.
	Marksmanship Hat	Gives an additional attack roll bonus, and works perfectly with ranged weapons if you decide to use them.
Cloak	Cloak of Protection	Improves survivability and Saving Throw success. You want to equip this cloak to maintain that good Armour Class.
Armor	Luminous Armour	The best armor for clerics using Radiant damage.
Gloves	Luminous Gloves	Applies Radiating Orb. I would use these together with Callous Glow Ring to weaken foes.
	Gloves of Belligerent Skies	Works with Callous Glow Ring for an easy way to apply Reverbation. Choose either these or Luminous Gloves.
	Flawed Helldusk Gloves	These gloves are pretty good and improve damage with weapon attacks
Boots	Boots of Stormy Clamour	It's pretty easy to inflict a condition and the Reverbation debuff can prove very valuable. You can use them with Spirit Guardians.
	Evasive Shoes	Gives a bonus to armor class.
	Boots of Brilliance	Although they are not very powerful, it can still work well for Bardic Inspiration​ restoration.
Amulet	Amulet of the Harpers	Allows casting a Shield​ spell, and can be a lifesaver if attacked heavily for one turn.
Rings	Callous Glow Ring	This ring can work well with your Bow, to apply Radiating Orbs from Luminous Armour. If you will use this ring on another character
	The Whispering Promise	The ring is still a powerful buff source with Healing Word.
	Ring of Mental Inhibition	Applies Mental Fatigue debuff, weakening spell success.
	Strange Conduit Ring	An easy source of additional psychic damage.

Act 3 - Final Build setup

Slot	Item	Description
Melee (One-Handed)	-	To be fair, for melee options, there are no better items to what was mentioned already.
Ranged	Gontr Mael	A bow alternative to Titanstring Bow, with various special effects and additional radiant damage rider.
	Titanstring Bow	Technically this would be the most powerful bow, however, this requires using Bhaalist Armour and activating Aura Of Murder​ from an outside source.
	Hellrider Longbow	The bonus initiative is an excellent boost to go early in combat. If it is not a surprise round, it is almost guaranteed. I would only use this if you are concentrating on melee attacks and spell casting.
Shield	Viconia's Walking Fortress	One of the best shields in the game. Overall, it serves more of a defensive role giving advantages on Spell Saving Throws.
	Ketheric's Shield	The best shield for casters as it gives +1 Spell Save DC, increasing spell success.
Head	Helmet of Grit	A very powerful helmet that gives additional bonus action. This does require sacrificing half of your HP, so I would use it together with Amulet of Greater Health. With additional bonus action you can use Combat Inspiration​ or Healing Word​ for additional buffs.
	Holy Lance Helm	When enemies miss you, the additional radiant damage can activate effects from Gloves of Belligerent Skies, Luminous Armour, etc.
	Helmet of Arcane Acuity	This can be a powerful tool especially if you opt out for more of a controller setup, especially if you do not have access to Luminous Armour. Use this together with Band of the Mystic Scoundrel.
Cloak	Cloak of Displacement	It provides an increased chance of avoiding enemy attacks with attack rolls.
	Thunderskin Cloak	It can be used for an additional daze effect if you are using reverbation items like Boots of Stormy Clamour and Gloves of Belligerent Skies.
Armor	Luminous Armour	The best armor pick for this build, to use together with Spirit Guardians. If not, check other options.
	Armour of Agility	One of the best medium armors in the game.
	Dark Justiciar Half-Plate	These armors become available based on major decisions in Act 2. The main goal here is to get a Concentration Saving Throw advantage which helps with maintaining spells.
	Dark Justiciar Half-Plate
Gloves	Luminous Gloves	Perfect for use with all the radiant setups. Pick the preferred debuff - Radiant Orb vs Reverbation based on gear availability or other criteria.
	Gloves of Belligerent Skies
	The Reviving Hands	Excellent gloves for buffing allies with Healing Word.
Boots	-	Reuse the same boots from previous acts.
Amulet	Amulet of Greater Health	The best amulet in terms of combat potential. Together with Helmet of Grit, you can have a decent amount of HP even at 50%, and improve the number of attacks.
	Amulet of The Devout	A powerful amulet that gives additional Channel Divinity charge and improved Spell Save DC.
	Fey Semblance Amulet	An excellent amulet to improve the rolls against mental saving throws.
	Spellcrux Amulet	Can be used to restore spell slots and unequipped.
Rings	Callous Glow Ring	Helps with applying radiant damage on weapon hits. Will work extremely well with Bow weapon and multiple.
	The Whispering Promise	Excellent ring for debuffing.
	Band of the Mystic Scoundrel	This item is an option to be used together with Helmet of Arcane Acuity if you will not utilize Spirit Guardians.
	Ring of Protection	A good ring to help maintain Armour Class to avoid enemy attacks.

Build Mechanics

In this section, I would like to dive deep into how to play the Valour Bard Build. This will help you utilize it to the fullest and correctly use various actions and spells throughout the game.

Important Mechanics and Combos

Let's go through key mechanics and tips on how to use the build effectively.

Applying Inspirations

The highlight of using Valour Bard is access to Combat Inspiration​ which provides combat bonuses compared to the base Bardic Inspiration. This is a pretty good buff, that you should apply on your party members before combat. Of course, you can save them for combat, but this would use up Bonus Action and limit other uses.

So the best tactic would be to apply Combat Inspiration​ on party members, do a short rest (once you get Font of Inspiration​), and go into combat with full inspiration which could be used based on the combat situation.

Healing and Buffs

Many people assume that "support" build should be using healing spells most of the time. However, this is far from the truth. In general, the best healing mechanic is just throwing potions, which is efficient, and cheap in comparison.

Overall, healing should be limited and in my opinion, used sparingly. My recommended spells are Healing Word​ and Mass Healing Word. These are cheap to use and cost only bonus action, which does not interfere with your important spells that will be covered later.

However, the major highlight is that those healing spells activate The Whispering Promise ring buffing your allies. This is very valuable early in the game, so that your party has a higher hit chance, making combat easier.

In addition, there are other items that you can use - Hellrider's Pride or The Reviving Hands later in the game with more defensive bonuses.

Applying Radiant effects

The highlight of this build is all the radiant damage and Radiant Orb debuff that you can do on your targets:

• Luminous Armour - this item applies Radiant Orbs when attacking with radiant damage. It is one of the core items of the build.
• Spirit Guardians​ - this is the main spell, that you will use, from level 5. It has decent damage but more importantly, it will activate Luminous Armour.
• Radiance of the Dawn​ - an excellent skill that you can use to hit multiple enemies in a large area with radiant damage.
• Luminous Gloves - another source of Radiant orbs when attacking.
• Callous Glow Ring - an easy source of radiant damage for your melee hits. Make sure to cast Light​ on yourself so that you would illuminate enemies nearby.
• Gontr Mael - if you opt out of this bow, it has a special action that applies radiant damage rider.

So all of these items and effects will make the core of the build and ensure that you can deal sufficient radiant damage and apply Radiant Orb debuff. These are very powerful, as they make enemies miss their hits, and improve your party survivability.

Using Ranged attacks

The build also utilizes bow quite well, especially as you get Martial Weapon proficiency and Extra Attack​. Titanstring Bow, Gontr Mael are excellent options, and using Arrow of Many Targets with Callous Glow Ring + Luminous Armour can hit multiple enemies with Radiant Orb.

Bows also become very powerful with Sharpshooter: All In​ and can easily destroy enemies with the +10 bonus damage that you get. So Valour Bard gets an option to be not only a powerful combat or support caster but also an archer.

Early Game Combat

Let's cover how you should progress combat levels 1-6.

• Once you get The Whispering Promise, you can forgo the spell and use the Healing Word​ to buff and strengthen allies. Hellrider's Pride is another addition.
• I recommend using Phalar Aluve and applying its buffs for encounters with Phalar Aluve: Sing or Shriek. The former is more powerful in early games, as the bonuses greatly improve hit chance.
• Use Combat Inspiration​ to buff allies before combat. I would especially do this on the ones using Sharpshooter: All In​ or Great Weapon Master: All In​ to improve their hit chance.
• Glyph of Warding​ can be used to put enemies to sleep without a Concentration slot. It is excellent if you see a few of them grouped up.
• Use Song of Rest​ for additional short rest, and reset your limited resources.

Mid to Late Game Combat

The mid and late-game setup unlocks more potential and options for Valour Bard.

• If you have access to Luminous Armour, you can pick Spirit Guardians​ via Magical Secrets. This will be your bread-and-butter debuff in close range.
• Remember to use Arrow of Many Targets with a bow to hit multiple enemies and weaken them with Radiant Orbs.
• Your bonus action will have plenty of uses, and utilize them based on combat situation - Healing Word, Combat Inspiration, etc.
• Spells like Hold Monster​ and Greater Invisibility​ have excellent situation uses to disable and weaken foes.

Build Variations

Here are some variations that work similarly and utilize the same classes at their core.

Setup	Description
10 Valour Bard 2 Paladin	A setup that allows to use Divine Smite​ for weapon attacks. This is more of a melee setup, that can deal some decent damage at the expense of spell slots.
10 Valour Bard 2 Sorcerer	Get access to Shield​, Tempestuous Magic, additional spells, and metamagic, which can be utilized for various buffs and improved combat performance.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Valour Bard Build for Baldur's Gate 3. I hope you enjoyed reading the post, as it took a while to test and understand how to best create this underappreciated Bard subclass. The build plays around combat and support thanks to College of Valour features.

Cheers!